In Pictures: Upcoming Technologies We Want Right Now

[exfileme]

Technology is in a constant state of flux, and there are a number of cool concepts that haven't yet realized mainstream adoption, despite massive potential to change our lives. We take a look at 11 different ideas that you could see pick up steam.

In Pictures: Upcoming Technologies We Want Right Now : Read more

 

[maigo]

I think you're missing immortality

 

[Ramar]

"On the other hand, this could eliminate jobs by making hand-crafted work redundant."

Shouldn't Tom's, of all people, understand what's wrong with this statement?

As a starter: Technology and the advancement of our race should take precedence over any particular job field. Sure, the horse-buggy builders had some tough years learning to work at the Ford factory, but that's how life is.

Great article otherwise though, thanks guys!

 

[Rancifer7]

The concept of wireless energy came about during the late 1800s, while an article featured on Space.com sparked an interest with mainstream media as it discussed wireless energy transfers in space.

late 1800s..who knew...

And here I thought the internet and space travel were a more recent thing...

 

[darthvidor]

I agree on missing out immortality

 

[Guest]

@Rancifer7 Look up Nikola Tesla's disturbed charge of ground and air system and Wardenclyffe Tower. It's been around for ages but it got buried for financial interests.

 

[micr0be]

very nice article, wish there was more detail about the researches going on

 

[liquidsnake718]

Self driving autos would only work on high tech and small cities with all the wifi and proper roads available. The last S class Mercedes had motion sensing rear and front bumpers that would sense an object and would slow the car down via auto brakes, this tech can also be implimented with a smarter cpu and video cameras to tell the actual distance and colors from stop lights, or perhaps can be controlled by the stop light somehow. Thiswould work in an entirely new and modern city or a city like toyko, singapore, New York, or Paris where the roads are linear and is full of tech and cameras.

 

[Drayeon]

liquidsnake. Check out the Darpa challenges. The one back in 2007 had the vehicles drive over 200 miles. Have other vehicles on the road. And obstacles such as people and various other things that could go on the road. (Fallen tree limbs). The vehicles would either have to reroute to different roads or lose. This took place in rural and urban settings over 200 miles without any support from people.

If the vehicles could do that then I wonder what they could do now. It is true that really most of whats holding this back is regulation and litigation issues.I wish the Darpa challenges were still being held but, I guess they got what they wanted.

 

[killerclick]

Yeah, who needs volumetric 3d displays if we know we're going to get old and die. Immortality!

 

[Guest]

@Drayeon you might also be interested in this event taking place right now http://viac.vislab.it

 

[jestersage]

Nice article. I particularly like the personal nuke.

On the topic of immortality, I think we should develop terraforming and other interstellar colonization technologies first.

This planet is going to get real crowded real fast if nobody dies in the next 10 years.

 

[Chewie]

At the population density of New York city, we could fit the whole current population of the planet in the area of what used to be Yugoslavia. And even the most depressed parts of Africa have life expectancies about twice what they were 60 years ago. While there's still a long way to go re: preventable deaths due to poverty, progress is being made. Its not all doom and gloom, and we're not even close to running out of space or food yet.

 

[Onus]

Please skip the "augmented reality." We're already dealing with that now in primitive form, called "targeted advertising." No thanks.

 

[tommysch]

Self-Driving Automobiles...

NEVER. You will have to take away my steering wheel from my cold dead hands.

 

[unrealpinky]

Good God, i hope that we don't discover immortality. Extend life expectancy, definitely, but I certainly don't want to live forever.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Re: Wireless energy:

But don't fret--this process isn't harmful to humans, as apparently our bodies don't respond to magnetic fields in a negative way.

Tell that to the thousands of people passing laws against cell towers near homes, schools, and anyplace else that you might find a human being. I suspect that this will meet enough resistance to discourage Nikola Tesla.

 

[Guest]

Wireless power could be embedded in roads, powering electric cars with a minimal battery, only for off-grid travel or power outages.

 

[dallaswits]

Implications are a bit frightening.

Who will police the chemicals within?
Much harder to control uranium (depleted or otherwise) when a hundred thousand homes have a back yard nuclear gen.


That being said, the fact that the proposed design runs on depleted uranium is great, it means there is already a layer of "re-use" built into the product, something to to consider when you think about the nearly permanent existence of these chemicals after all reasonable use has been made.

 

[husker]

[citation][nom]unrealpinky[/nom]Good God, i hope that we don't discover immortality. Extend life expectancy, definitely, but I certainly don't want to live forever.[/citation]
With immortality you wouldn't live forever. You'd either starve to death, be murdered, or die in a traffic accident. People shouldn't assume that the entire human race will suddenly become better behaved and have answers to current problems just because we are immortal. Every problem we have would only get worse.

 

[bv90andy]

[citation][nom]WyomingKnott[/nom]Re: Wireless energy: Tell that to the thousands of people passing laws against cell towers near homes, schools, and anyplace else that you might find a human being. I suspect that this will meet enough resistance to discourage Nikola Tesla.[/citation]
radio, wi-fi, mobile phones radiation =/= Magnetic radiation, totally different frequencies. One can live his entire life with a big magnet attached to his head and he would not have a single problem (except for neck pain), some say it helps with health problems.

 

[cptnjarhead]

Ok. sooo where is the cyborg girl?.. that is the only reason i clicked!

 

[kilthas_th]

Damn your misleading picture. Where are the bionic parts! Also, I was hoping to see more breakthroughs in the dental field. I seem to recall a couple of groups claiming promising results in the ability to regrow teeth over the last decade, as well as one group which was using a tiny ultrasound or somesuch to fix crooked teeth, repair fractured teeth, and even reattach teeth to the jawbone and stimulate new growth.

Also, organ growth...

 

[cptnjarhead]

"organ growth"... yeah... every white dude wants that

 

[hotlazydaze]

if you consider the global accident/death rates on the roads and all the idiots currently licensed to drive a car we'd probably be much better off statistically if we implemented the autonomous vehicles right now.