What We're Reading

A Timeline of Future Technology

Making predictions about future technology is both fun and notoriously difficult.

However, such predictions also serve a very practical purpose for investors and business leaders, since failing to adapt to changing industry paradigms can completely decimate a business venture, turning it into the next Blockbuster, Kodak, or Sears.

Today’s infographic from Futurism rounds up some of the most interesting predictions about the future, from trusted sources such as Scientific American and The National Academy of Sciences.

Machines,Big and Small

The confluence of robotics, artificial intelligence, and increasing levels of automation is a prevailing trend throughout the projected timeline of future technology.

In less than 10 years, we will be able to control machines based on eye movements, while ingesting nano-sized robots to repair injuries from within our bodies. Later on, it’s also expected that the next wave of AI will be a reality: by 2036, predictive AI

Sometimes the world is not yet ready for a new technology to enter the fray.

Virtual reality, for example, sat on the sidelines for many years. The industry went into hibernation around the time of the Dot Com Bust, and it has only recently re-emerged with promise.

It is only today that big companies like Microsoft, Google, Samsung, HTC, and Facebook have the infrastructure, peripheral technologies, and capital in place to properly commercialize the technology. Now, instead of using primitive 300 x 200 pixel LCD displays that were prohibitively expensive in the 90s, we are looking at a world where display will be in beautiful 4k quality. Meanwhile, accelerometers and gyroscopes can measure head movement, and modern computing power can reduce lag and latency. It took many years, but finally the true potential of VR is being realized.

Like virtual reality, there are 10 other emerging technologies that are finally ready for prime time. Some, like the recent advances in artificial intelli

The way we pay for things has changed dramatically over the past few years. Uber calculates your fare in real-time and charges you as you exit the car. The newest phones have chips that let you pay with a tap.

But that’s only scratching the surface. Visa, for one, envisions a future where pretty much any device could handle a payment, and we won’t even need a phone or credit card to make it work.

To get there and beyond, the payment-processing company is looking for some outside help. On Thursday (Feb. 4) it announced that it’s opening up its VisaNet platform to developers. Considering Visa processes 100 billion transactions per year, it’s a potentially powerful tool for that community. By letting developers focus on the experience and Visa managing the payments—from processing to security and risk—change could happen quickly.

So how will we pay in the not-too-distant future? Visa CTO Rajat Tenaja, head of innovation Jim McCarthy, and head of product Jack Forestell gave Quartz a pee

If they need money to complete a prototype, what was used in filming?  If Cicret is a scam, it certainly is a tempting one.  Anyone have a cool million laying around?  Oh an no strings or legal agreement attached.  According to the website:

We need 300,000 euros to develop the CICRET APP on all the platforms. We need 700,000 euros to finish the first prototype of the CICRET BRACELET. So feel free to donate an amount of your choice. If everyone gives us 1 euro, we will make it and release our products!

This certainly reminds me of the hover board video which made the rounds a while back.

Protype needed.  Indeed.  Hope they find a source of funding but without any written agreement, it may take a while.  Winter 2015 may be a bit too ambitious.