What are the top 10 technologies that could change the world in the future?

3D printers, sensor networks, avatars and other technologies in development will dramatically change our world in the next 10 years, according to David Evans, chief future visionary at Cisco. As computing power grows exponentially, so will the rate of change it triggers. Technological advances are going to bring about far more change in the next 10 years than they have in the past 10 years. \x0d\ \x0d\ While disruptive technologies are unpredictable, we are able to get a glimpse of the future by understanding the research and development work being conducted in R&D labs around the world. As the Chief Future Thinker and Chief Technologist for Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (hereafter referred to as IBSG), Evans' job is to think about and predict the future. At Cisco Live, Cisco's annual IT and communications conference, Evans expressed his belief that the top 10 technology trends will change the world in 10 years. Evans said: "animated characters already have voice recognition capabilities, and can also convert text to speech and recognize people they've met before". 2020, robots will physically outperform humans. IBM's "Blue Brain" 10-year program will use hardware and software to create a virtual human body. IBM's 10-year "Blue Brain" program will use hardware and software to create a human brain. Evans said, "They think that within 10 years they will have a brain with consciousness inside it." \x0d\ \x0d\ In 2025, robots will outnumber the population of developed countries; by 2032, robots will surpass humans intellectually; and by 2035, robots will completely replace humans in the workforce. In the future, we will see more complex and advanced incarnations. Evans points to IBM's "Watson" as an example of a virtual human. "Watson is able to answer questions and give an accurate answer. \x0d\ \x0d\ In the future, patients can use virtual machines to replace networked family doctors, and hospitals can use virtual machines to improve care and treatment. Augmented reality and gesture-based processing will go into classrooms, healthcare organizations and communication facilities to improve teaching and service. "The 'eyes' of the machine allow users to take pictures of Sudoku puzzles using their smartphones and the puzzles are completed immediately afterward," he said. Evans says, "That's the equivalent of 100 years of tweet posts by every person on the planet, or 125 million years of watching a 1-hour TV series destination." Our preference for high-definition video content is largely contributing to this growth. According to Cisco's projections, 91% of Internet data in 2015 will be video content. Cisco's R&D and marketing is focused on what's known as the "zettaflood," which requires a dramatic increase in the network's ability to transmit data without dropping the ball while we watch video. \x0d\ \x0d\ 3. Cloud Intelligence \x0d\ \x0d\ \x0d\ \x0d\ \x0d\ \x0d\ Much of the zettaflood data will be stored in the cloud. Of course, the vast majority of data will be accessible through the cloud, not just through private networks. According to Cisco's projections, as of 2020, one-third of all data will be accessed through the cloud. Global cloud service revenues are increasing by 20% per year, and IT companies will spend more than $1 trillion in 2014 on innovation and cloud processing. That's enough money to create another Google. Evans said, "Cloud technology is now advanced enough to help us communicate through real-time language translation, to improve our knowledge through access to powerful supercomputers - such as 'Wolfram's Alpha' - and to improve our learning, and improve our health through new ways of utilizing computing platforms such as IBM's 'Watson'. The variety of ways we communicate is far greater than ever before." \x0d\ \x0d\ Cloud technology empowers end devices with computing capabilities that can improve our ability to communicate through real-time translation. Currently, Android phones are already equipped with voice search functionality, which transmits the user's question to the Google cloud for processing, and the results of the search are then transmitted to the user. Evans said, "We're going to see a much more intelligent way of communicating, with a proliferation of information based on back-and-forth relationships and locations." \x0d\ \x0d\ With the help of always-on devices, the Internet will be able to analyze available information to a greater extent. Information will be passed to private sensors to learn how a person is sleeping, and incoming calls will be forwarded to voicemail. If it learns that the user is in a car going 60 miles per hour (about 96 kilometers per hour), the sensors will realize that this is not the time to take a video call. Of course, by the time that day comes, we'll probably already be driving Google's unmanned cars, and chatting in them will be a free-for-all. Internet performance has increased 170,000 times since 1990, when there was only one telnet connection. Now, Evans has 38 always-on connections and more than 50M of bandwidth, enough to telepresence, watch movies online and play games simultaneously. He sees home networking speeds increasing 3 million times in the next 10 years. The industry is overwhelmingly focused on 40G and 100G.\x0d\ \x0d\ Currently, the next generation of the Internet is taking shape. Cerf says creating an interplanetary network will require new protocols, a network capable of ultra-long-distance data transmission without waiting times. Evans noted that multi-terabit networks utilizing lasers are under development. Earlier work introduced the concept of quantum networking technology based on quantum physics. The technology involves quantum entanglement, where two particles are entangled no matter how far apart they are, and if one is electrically charged, so is the other. Quantum networks are expected to become a reality within a few decades. The influence of social networking sites will spread rapidly across cultures. A smaller world means faster communication. In the recent Japanese earthquake, Evans says, "tweets from Japanese residents were sent to their followers before the U.S. Geological Survey officially issued tsunami warnings for Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California." The capture, dissemination, and consumption of information will escalate from "just-in-time" to "real-time". This shift will have a more rapid impact on culture. \x0d\ \x0d\ 6. Solar Power \x0d\ \x0d\ \x0d\ \x0d\ \x0d\ As population numbers continue to grow, Evans estimates that a major city with a population of one million will emerge every year for the next 20 years. More efficient ways of powering cities will become a necessity, especially solar power. Solar power alone can meet our energy needs," Evans said. In order to solve the current global energy needs, need to build 25 super solar farms, each covering an area of 36 square miles (about 93 square kilometers). That's 170,000 square kilometers of deforestation per year." He noted that such super solar farms could be completed in as little as three years. \x0d\ \x0d\ The advances in technology will increase the efficiency of solar power while making it more affordable, and in June, researchers at Oregon State University demonstrated a novel, affordable, and low-impact way to "print" solar panels using inkjet printers. \x0d\ \x0d\ 7.3D printer \x0d\ \x0d\ More things are going from "physical" to "virtual". More people are downloading e-books and movies than buying books and DVDs, and 3D printing technology allows us to instantly make anything from food to bicycles, with a striking resemblance to the replicators in Star Trek. Evans said, "3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of fusing materials together, usually layer by layer, based on 3D model data." \x0d\ \x0d\ Thanks to the layer-by-layer approach, items ranging from toys to automobiles to living structures can be printed, not dissimilar to those made in the traditional way. Some point to possible legal challenges to 3D printing. Evans said, "In the not-too-distant future, we'll be able to print human organs." At the Technology Entertainment Design Conference in Long Beach, California, in March, Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University's Institute for Regenerative Medicine printed a proof-of-concept kidney model on site. It wasn't a living tissue, but it was still a remarkable breakthrough. The next generation of the Internet Protocol, IPv6, supports virtually unlimited connectivity. According to Cisco IBSG, the number of things connected to the Internet will reach 50 billion by 2020, which equates to more than 6 Internet-enabled devices per person on the planet. Many users in developed countries have three or more Internet-connected devices, such as PCs, smartphones, tablets and Internet-enabled TVs. Evans said sensor networks will be big in the future, using low-energy sensors to collect, transmit, analyze and distribute massive amounts of data. \x0d\ \x0d\ This sensor stand is based on standards such as Zigbee, 6LoWPAN and Z-wave, and is able to provide services to users in a predictable and surprising way.Zigbee is being implanted in smart home appliances and smart instruments, and Wynton Cerf is applying 6LoWPAN to his wine cellar climate monitoring system.Z-Wave is the Verizon Smart home automation services. \x0d\ \x0d\ Now, more creative applications are springing up. Dutch startup Sparked has implanted sensors in the ears of cows to monitor their health and whereabouts. In addition, businesses are also implanting sensors into shoes, drug delivery devices such as asthma inhalers, and medical scoping devices. In Sweden, there is even a tree installed with a large number of sensors to express its emotions and thoughts through a "translation engine" developed by Ericsson. \x0d\ \x0d\ 9. More advanced medical technology and equipment \x0d\ \x0d\ Evans said: "Pacemakers are nothing new." In the next 10 years, medical technology will become more and more advanced as computing power increases, and medical devices will be miniaturized. Devices like nanorobots and the ability to grow replacement organs from a patient's own tissue will become more common. He says, "The dream of ultimate integration is a brain-machine interface that ultimately allows patients with spinal cord injuries to live as normal." Right now, we have developed mind-controlled video games and wheelchairs. Intel has developed software that scans the brain to understand what others are thinking and thus predict their next move. \x0d\ \x0d\ 10. Human or Borg? \x0d\ \x0d\ Stephen Hawking says humans are entering a self-designed stage of evolution. As medical technology reaches a new level, humans will have a range of tools to enhance their capabilities. Evans cites the following examples: \x0d\ \x0d\ In July 2009, Spanish researchers discovered the substance behind "unforgettable vision". \x0d\ \x0d\ In October 2009, Italian and Swedish scientists developed the world's first artificial hand with sensation. \x0d\ \x0d\\ In March 2010, retinal transplants helped restore sight to the blind. \x0d\ \x0d\ In June 2011, the Texas Heart Institute developed a "rotating" heart that has no pulse, does not block, and will not fail. \x0d\ \x0d\\ Early applications of these technologies could help repair diseased tissue or brain damage, and ultimately help humans realize the dream of "self-design". In the future, humans will be able to utilize a vast array of technologies to repair, improve, or enhance their bodies, transforming them into Borg. Future visionary Ray Cruzville is a proponent of this idea. As the technology develops, humans and machines will merge and become a new species. Cruzville uses the term "singularity" to describe this idea, and according to his predictions, this dream will become a reality by 2054. Evans is not convinced about the Singularity, and is even more skeptical about Cruzville's prediction of 2054. At Singularity University in Mountain View, California, Evans searched for data that seemed plausible, and he believes we are on our way.