Ten Technological Achievements That Will Change the World

Most of the things available today were once viewed as the fantasies of science fiction films. SF could soon become a redundant genre due to the many innovations currently emerging in laboratories, institutes, and factories.

written by Vanja Figenwald
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The speed of technological development once astonished, but over time it has become an accepted fact. No one thinks anymore that the latest gadget they just bought will be new for longer than a year, if even that long. The next lesson learned pertains to the range and capabilities of technology. Once, most of the things available today, or soon to be available, were seen as the fantasies of science fiction series and films, with no possibility of realization in the near or distant future. Today we know that one should never say never; time is the only factor.
Every so often, one can find an overview of technologies that are entering or will soon enter everyday use, or things that will slightly revolutionize the lives of ordinary mortals. If we are to believe relevant magazines and experts who closely monitor the development of gadgets, there is a series of innovations in all areas that could soon dominate everyday life as laboratories, institutes, and factories work at full speed.

1. Always Awake Memristor
First on the list of the ten most exciting innovations is the memristor, a microscopic component that can remember electrical states even when powered off. In other words, flash memory, RAM, and hard drives could become antiques; it has already been produced by Hewlett-Packard. The memristor is expected to be cheaper, faster, and have a larger capacity than today’s memories. Its practicality lies in its ability to remember exactly what the powered-off computer was doing and return it to operational status much faster than is currently the case.
Further dreaming by technology enthusiasts includes the thesis that with the help of these circuits, future computers will be capable of more complicated tasks, i.e., smarter. According to scientists, nothing actually stands in the way of application – it all depends on the business community and its willingness to invest in and promote this technology. Predictions suggest that 2012 will be the year when the memristor replaces flash memories, and DRAM will be replaced from 2014 to 2016.

2. The Core Race
The continuous development of miniaturization has been felt for some time in the field of processors. The race in gigahertz, the clock speed of the processors that power all those sweet gadgets, is mostly over; now it is important who has more cores. Currently, quad-core processors are all the rage, but further chip miniaturization will result in adding an increasing number of cores to processors, which will enhance their efficiency in performing multiple tasks simultaneously and their processing power. If someone thinks that competing with clock speed was a nightmare, adding cores will be a crazy sprint. Namely, Intel already has six-core processors, but by next year, eight-core processors could also become available. The good news is that they might pause a bit here because a larger number of cores brings other technical problems that will need to be solved before continuing to build. Intel dreams of hundreds of cores at some point in history.

3. Even Faster USB
USB 2.0 lasted quite a long time by the standards of technological development, so USB 3.0, viewed this way, is late. It was a great success in its time, but as the capacity of hard drives expands into terabytes, the data transfer speed offered by 2.0 is no longer sufficient. The younger brother 3.0 is expected to enable transfers of 4.8 gigabits per second, specifically an entire CD. Best of all, despite a slightly different connector, old USBs will be able to be combined with new connectors. According to the plan, it will be available next year.

4. Wireless Electricity
Diligent MIT scientists recently managed to transmit electrical energy wirelessly over a distance of 30.5 centimeters, reviving Nikola Tesla’s unfulfilled dream once again. However, this technology is still in its infancy and quite rudimentary, so the future of commercial use is very murky. Speculation suggests six to eight years, but considering the series of obstacles, the question is whether and when the world will use wireless electricity. Probably more important and accessible than that is the refinement of currently available wireless technologies that, although they do not transmit electrical energy, make life easier. A deeper penetration of the wireless universe into users’ homes and the connection of all devices into its expanse can be expected, which is, after all, already happening.

5. Cloud Applications
Although the world of computer software and hardware is still grappling with 32-bit and 64-bit, which has not been received as well as expected, a much larger change is coming in terms of how operating systems will function in the future. The new term of the day is ‘cloud computing’, which refers to moving a range of applications to remote servers. A large part of what makes up applications today stored on each user’s personal computer would be moved to remote computers popularly called ‘the cloud’.

6. Motion Control
Remote control is an eternal theme since the first television, but despite the impracticality of today’s solutions, there is no universal remedy for laziness, i.e., a remote control system that will allow the user to control everything, or most of the gadgets in their home, without getting up from the couch. The solution to this big problem is called motion-based remote control. Although it sounds super advanced and complicated, the concept is actually very simple and involves the presence of cameras that track the user’s gestures. Some products of this type are already available on the market, but their precision is not their strong suit, so broader application can be expected only in 2012 or later.

7. Goodbye Mice
Touch-sensitive screens have already entered regular use, revived by the popular iPhone, for which this technology served as a key element in attracting users. Soon, everyone else caught up, so it is now an accepted technology that is spreading into more and more gadgets and aims to enable the use of multiple fingers at once, where Apple again leads the way. The question is therefore not when ‘multitouch’ will arrive, but how quickly the trend will gain momentum. In the near future, therefore, the departure of mice and keyboards is expected, but it is hard to say when.

8. Mobile Phones Instead of Paper
Mobile phones have indeed greatly facilitated life for people in many areas, and the next step is replacing paper with these gadgets. Instead of pointless printing and the constant need to carry various papers and notes, mobile phones have the potential to replace them. This belongs to the category of already established technologies that are increasingly entering everyday life. Mobile phones are used to pay for parking, tickets, receive confirmations and invoices, bypass long airport procedures, conduct banking transactions, etc. Despite the increasing prevalence of mobile phones as a replacement for paper, there is ample room for expansion and further development.

9. Three-Dimensional Television
A large part of the technological industry’s efforts is directed primarily at entertainment, today the largest consumer potential. After successfully catapulting cathode-ray tube televisions and introducing plasma and LCDs, manufacturers hope to persuade consumers to make another change towards new televisions through 3D television. The technology is old news and has remained in cinemas, but recently it has undergone improvements and is now on its way into homes. A little better televisions and glasses, and there you have the magic in everyone’s home.

10. Like the Terminator
Perhaps the most futuristic technology among the selected is ‘augmented reality’, which involves overlaying computer-generated data onto what we see. The purpose of this technology is to enhance our ability to communicate with the things around us by providing relevant information about those things or phenomena in real-time. For now, this cannot be executed as in ‘Terminator’, meaning that such data is obtained directly into the eye, but it is feasible within devices, most often mobile phones, or possibly glasses. Somewhat better ones. All in all, far from general application for now. This is, of course, just a selection of technologies, some of which are already in use, while others, like augmented reality, are in their infancy. However, based on experience that has shown that technology sooner or later overcomes all obstacles, a radical development can be expected that will render science fiction a redundant and uninteresting genre. After all, if a person from the Middle Ages were to see the technologies that are now considered an indispensable part of everyday life, they would not believe what they see. Therefore, no matter how elusive some things may seem, at some point they will surely become a reality.