The digital divide - those who master computers vs those who are displaced by computers - is getting ever wider as we move into 2013 and look another five years out. Here are the Five in Five sensory predictions from IBM regarding computer technologies.
Touch--Retail, healthcare, and other sectors will use haptic (based on the sense of touch), infrared, and pressure-sensitive technologies to simulate touch. Utilizing the vibration capabilities of the phone, every object will have a unique set of vibration patterns that represents the touch experience: short and fast patterns, or longer and stronger vibrations. For instance, the vibration pattern will differentiate silk from linen or cotton, helping simulate the physical sensation of actually touching the material. Look but do not touch signs will become obsolete.
Sight--The computer on your desk, or tucked in your briefcase, or glued to the palm of your hand is practically a dumb terminal compared with what is coming soon. Systems will not only be able to recognize images and visual data, they will make sense out of it similar to the way a human views and interprets a photograph. "Brain-like" capabilities will analyze features such as color or texture patterns or even factors that are subtle or invisible to the human eye and require careful measurement. Extracting insights from visual media could be put to use in healthcare by making sense out medical information such as MRIs, CT scans, X-rays, and ultrasound images to capture information tailored to a particular anatomy or pathologies. Would it be possible, though, to make sense out of Rocky V?
Hearing-- Sound detection sensors capable of measuring sound pressure, vibrations, and sound waves at different frequencies will soon be listening to our surroundings and measuring movements. This technology might be used for measuring the stress in a material, which could lead to danger warnings in advance of trees falling in a forest or when a landslide is imminent. "I could hear you coming a mile away" goes from exaggeration to truth.
Taste--Computers will soon use algorithms to determine the precise chemical structure of food and why people like certain tastes. These algorithms will examine how chemicals interact with each other, the molecular complexity of flavor compounds, and their bonding structure and use that information, together with models of perception, to predict the taste appeal of flavors. It could be used to make healthy foods, like broccoli, more palatable, like ice cream.
Smell--During the next five years, sensors embedded in computers or cell phones will detect colds and other illnesses. They will do this by analyzing odors, biomarkers, and thousands of molecules--sort of like a breathalyzer, if you've ever had one of those. The process will help doctors diagnose and monitor ailments such as liver and kidney disorders, asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy.
