Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Technology 25 years hence

Ray Kurzweil: Technology 25 years hence

And here are some of Kurzweil's predictions for the decade ahead (taken from Wikipedia)

2010s

  • Computers become smaller and increasingly integrated into everyday life.
  • More and more computer devices will be used as miniature web servers, and more will have their resources pooled for computation.
  • High-quality broadband Internet access will become available almost everywhere.
  • Glasses that beam images onto the users' retinas to produce virtual reality will be developed. They will also come with speakers or headphone attachments that will complete the experience with sounds.
  • The VR glasses will also have built-in computers featuring "virtual assistant" programs that can help the user with various daily tasks. (see Augmented Reality)
  • Virtual assistants would be capable of multiple functions. One useful function would be real-time language translation in which words spoken in a foreign language would be translated into text that would appear as subtitles to a user wearing the glasses.
  • Cell phones will be built into clothing and will be able to project sounds directly into the ears of their users.
  • Advertisements will utilize a new technology whereby two ultrasonic beams can be targeted to intersect at a specific point, delivering a localized sound message that only a single person can hear. This was depicted in the movie Minority Report.

2014

  • Automatic house cleaning robots will have become common.

2018

  • 1013 bits of computer memory—roughly the equivalent of the memory space in a single human brain—will cost $1000.


2020

  • One personal computer will have the same processing power as a human brain.


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