IBM recently released its annual “Next Five in Five” predictions on 5 notable tech innovations it expects to take place within the next 5 years. The predictions are a great opportunity for IBM to gain some extra publicity, but putting PR aside, it also provides insight to the strengthening of existing and future technologies.

“The company recently unveiled its annual “Next Five in Five,” showcasing five innovations it thinks will hit the tech market in the next five years. This year’s list is filled with better batteries, 3D holograms, computer heat energy, better GPS, and citizen scientists.”

IBM predicts we may see an accelerated progress in the battery and power segment, as smaller and up to 10 times more lasting batteries were foreseen as a viable prospect in the company’s prediction. 3D holograms were brought up as well. These are expected to get heavily involved with the mobile, TV and visual tech-related industries.

Another aspect to IBM’s prediction is computer heat. The company hopes it will be made possible within the next 5 years to harness the heat energy from computer farms.

On top of the above, crowdsourcing – a growing trend – has been brought up in 2 out of the 5 prediction bulletins. Personalized and real-time data GPS tech is expected to be introduced to the general market, as existing technologies and start-ups such as Waze already utilize crowdsourcing to provide users real-time traffic data. This along with the concept of the public as a group of citizen scientists helping scientists to get a real-time picture of the world concludes the list.  Here it is in full:

• Better batteries: Though battery capacity and power have traditionally only improved about 7 percent  a year, IBM thinks we may see smaller batteries that last 10 times longer than today’s.
• 3D holograms: We’ve reported on early holographic tests, but things will get a lot more real. 3D holograms will infect phones, TVs, and all sorts of screens, making 3D something consumers actually want. No glasses needed.
• Computer heat: IBM hopes to harness the energy produced by massive farms of computer servers and use it to heat and cool other buildings. “In the data center, 50% of the energy is cooling the data center, and a lot of that heat is just lost to us,” said Don Campbell, Chief Technology Officer for Business Analytics at IBM. ”A micro approach to passing water across the chip, pulling heat out of the chip and instead of getting rid of it, capturing, extracting and repurposing it, can lead to something as simple as driving a coffee maker in the lunch room, or as massive as heating a building in winter.”
• Personalized GPS: Android phones already have turn-by-turn navigation, but IBM predicts this technology can get a whole lot better by pulling real-time traffic data, advising alternate routes, and even telling you how many parking spots are available in a nearby lot. Pretty cool, right?
• Citizen scientists: Finally, in five years, IBM believes that sensors in smartphones, cars, computers, and social networks will help scientists get a real-time picture of where and how you live. In other words, ordinary people will be able to donate their personal data to help scientific research
  

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