Five Technologies That Could Shape the Future

by   Leandro L. Minku; Nervo Xavier Verdezoto; Stephan Reiff-Marganiec The Conversation

Researchers at the University of Leicester in the U.K. offer five speculative technological advances that could shape the future, including smart home technologies that use data and online connectivity to act on the user’s behalf.

However, their ubiquity will rely on continuous, ensured security.  Internet-connected devices can and are being hacked – just recall the recent ransomware attack. Our home is, after all, the place where we should feel most secure. For them to become widespread, these technologies will have to keep it that way.

A second innovation with promise are virtual secretaries that can perform day-to-day planning for businesses by harnessing contextual data–although issues of privacy invasion may need to be addressed.

Also showing potential are artificially intelligent healthcare providers that outperform physicians and nurses in diagnostic and other tasks. The technology could be especially beneficial in countries where medical staff is in short supply.

Self-driving vehicles could find favor due to their reliance on multiple sensors to enhance vehicle-to-vehicle communications and congestion/collision avoidance, with delivery companies particularly poised to benefit.

A fifth significant innovation could be robot caregivers in senior communities and elsewhere, via advances in voice and face recognition, and routing algorithms.  Read the full article.