List of emerging technologies

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This is a list of emerging technologies. Emerging technologies are new and potentially disruptive technologies, which may marginalize an existing dominant technology.[citation needed]

Only new and potentially disruptive technologies are included in the list. Information technology, for example, has already proven disruptive, whereas artificial intelligence is a subset of information technology with the potential of becoming disruptive in its own right.[citation needed]

Controversy exists over the degree of impact and economic viability of some emerging technologies. There is an ongoing public policy debate over emerging technologies and their implications for society.[citation needed]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Contents

[edit] Energy technologies

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
Nuclear fusion power Theory and experiments Fossil fuels, renewable energy, nuclear fission power Electric power generation
Biofuels Diffusion Fossil fuels Energy storage, particularly for transportation Issues relating to biofuels
Hydrogen economy Diffusion (of hydrogen fuel cells); Theory and experiments for less expensive production of hydrogen Other technologies for storing energy (conventional batteries, fossil fuels) Storage of energy
Nanowire battery Working prototypes Other technologies for storing energy (hydrogen, conventional batteries and in some cases fossil fuels) Laptops, cell phones and long-range electric cars. Storing power for electric grid
Ultracapacitor Diffusion and continued development conventional batteries Regenerative braking; generally faster-charging, longer lasting, more flexible, and/or greener energy storage
WiTricity Working prototypes Batteries Wireless energy transfer

[edit] Transportation

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
Electric cars Small scale production, infrastructure investment Internal combustion engine Greener transportation Tesla Motors, Better Place
Personal rapid transit Working prototypes (and models) Conventional rail/bus public transport; would reduce need for everyone to own their own car Greener transportation
Personal Aircraft Commercial production
Crower six stroke engine Working Prototypes (and models) Conventional Four-stroke engine and Two-stroke engine Greener transportation
Precooled jet engines Laboratory verified precooler subsonic jets Very fast, long distance, hydrogen powered air travel, space travel
Scramjet Working Mach 10 Prototype Hypersonic Jet engines, Rocket engines Very fast air travel
Non-rocket spacelaunch Theory and some experiments Rocket

[edit] Information Technology

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
Artificial intelligence Theory and experiments; limited application in specialized domains Replacement of Human decision, analysis, etc. Creation of intelligent devices Applications of artificial intelligence
Machine translation Prototyping and research Human translation of natural languages, in areas where misunderstanding is non-critical and language is formalized Easier cross-cultural communication
Machine vision Prototyping and research biological vision, the visual perception of humans Biometrics, Controlling processes (e.g. a Driverless car, or an Automated Guided Vehicle)), Detecting events (e.g. for visual surveillance), Interaction (e.g. for Human-computer interaction), Vision for Robots, Robot Vision Computer vision,Pattern recognition,Digital image processing
Machine augmented cognition/exocortices Diffusion of primitive amplifications; working prototypes of more; theory and experiments on more substantial amplification Libraries, schools, training, pocket calculators
Semantic Web or Answers Machine Search engines Making the web machine-readable by linking data on the web based on its meaning
General-purpose computing on graphics processing units Diffusion of non standardized methods CPU for a few specialized applications Order of magnitude faster processing of parallelizable algorithms.
Solid-state drive Diffusion; development of larger capacity Hard disk drive Less delicate, low mass (lighter laptop computers & portable electronics), faster, quieter, lower power consuming storage
3D optical data storage or Holographic data storage Prototyping and research All other optical data storage solutions, magnetic tape data storage, and other mass storage devices. Storage and archiving of data that was previously erased for economic reasons
Spintronics Working prototypes Mechanical magnetic hard disk drives Data storage MRAM
Optical computing Theory and experiments - some components of integrated circuits have been developed Many integrated circuits and other electronics devices Smaller, faster, lower power consuming computing
Quantum computing Theory and experiments Electronic computing, optical computing Much faster computing, for certain kinds of problems, chemical modeling, new materials with programmed properties, theory of high temperature superconductivity and superfluidity
Quantum cryptography Commercialization Secure communications
Wireless communication Diffusion Wired communication Ubiquitous network connectivity
Screenless display Theory and experiments displays Augmented reality, virtual reality Virtual retinal display,Adaptive optics
3D displays Theory and experiments, Commercialization CRT, LCD, and other display technologies Television, Computer interfaces, cinemas Autostereoscopic display, Stereoscopic display, Volumetric display, Holographic display
OLED first commercial OLED TV in 2008, Sony XEL-1 LCD and plasma displays Displays; lighting OLED TV, Comparison of display technology
IMOD Commercialization and development CRT, LCD, plasma, e-paper and other display technologies Non-emissive displays with fast response times and potentially the most realistic colors of all display technologies Interferometric modulator display, Comparison of display technology
Laser displays first commercial Laser TV in 2008, Mitsubishi LaserVue TV LCD and plasma displays Displays with very wide colour gamut prowess Laser TV, Comparison of display technology
Phased array optics Theory Conventional displays (e.g., Television) Mass production of 3 Dimensional imagery
Holography Diffusion Display Technologies
Memristor Working prototype Some current integrated circuits, many other electronics devices Smaller, faster, lower power consuming storage, analogue electronics, Artificial intelligence
3D printing In commercial production Manual creation of prototypes and also some mass production methods that lack the ability for customization Rapid prototyping and production of not only plastic objects but multi-material items, with the potential to significantly customize products for individual consumers
Thermal copper pillar bump Working prototypes in discrete devices Conventional thermal solutions, heat sinks, bulk thermoelectrics Electric circuit cooling; micro-fluidic actuators; small-device thermoelectric power generation Ultra high defintion holograpic disc

[edit] Biotechnology

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
Genetic engineering Commercialization; ongoing research & development Animal husbandry, Plant breeding Creation and modification of species Genetically modified food, Genetic pollution
Synthetic biology, Synthetic genomics Research & development Chemical industry, Petroleum industry, Process industries Creation of infinitely scalable production processes based on programmable species of bacteria and other life forms BioBrick, Igem, Synthetic Genomics
Nootropics Available Now Drugs that improve memory or cognition in healthy or aged populations. Piracetam, Aniracetam, Pregnenolone
Anti-aging drugs: resveratrol, SRT1720 Animal testing Existing treatments for age-related diseases Life extension
Vitrification or Cryoprotectant Theory and some experiments Ischemic Damages Organ transplant, Cryonics
Hibernation or Suspended Animation Animal trials, ongoing research and development Surgical anesthesia Organ transplant, space travel, prolonged surgery, emergency care
Personalized medicine Theory Orphan drug Cancer management and Preventive treatment; genetic disorders

[edit] Robotics

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
Swarm Robotics Theory and experiments distributed computing, Complexity in behavior by simplicity in architecture, Autonomous construction, Space construction swarm intelligence, autonomous robotics, nanorobotics, particle swarm optimization, Multi-agent systems, Behavior-based robotics
Molecular nanotechnology, Nanorobotics Theory and experiments Small products and parts production & retail Desktop devices that can make anything given the materials, cheap planetary terraforming

[edit] Material science

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
Hydrogen from water Thermal/light process for separating Hydrogen from water using ruthenium. Science Daily Hydrogen fuel electrolysis
High-temperature superconductivity Cryogenic Receiver Front-End (CRFE) RF and microwave filter systems for mobile phone base stations; Working prototypes in dry ice; theory and experiments for higher temperatures Copper wire No loss conductors, frictionless bearings, magnetic levitation, lossless high-capacity accumulators, electric cars
Nanomaterials: carbon nanotubes Diffusion, theory and experiments Structural steel and aluminium Stronger, lighter, and more intelligent materials, space elevator
Metamaterials Diffusion Classical optics Microscopes, cameras, cloaking devices
Self-healing materials Experimental Demonstrations Structural Materials Plastic parts, wide range of applications

[edit] Others

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
LED lamp Diffusion Incandescent and Fluorescent Lighting Illumination
Reliable Global Navigation Satellite System System currently being produced (GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou) Various custom built systems Mission critical navigation, Personal Air Vehicle
Powered exoskeleton Prototyping and Diffusion, research & development, Commercialization [1] Electric wheelchairs, forklifts. Heavy lifting, paralysis, muscle related diseases, warfare, construction

[edit] Hypothetical Future Technology

Emerging Technology Status Potentially Marginalized Technologies Potential Applications Related Articles
Immersive virtual reality Theory, limited commercialization consensus reality an artificial environment where the user feels just as immersed as they usually feel in consensus reality Immersion,Simulated reality


[edit] references

  1. ^ Christopher Mims (2009). "Exoskeletons Give New Life to Legs". Scientific American. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=honda-exoskeleton-assist-devices. Retrieved on 2009-04-21. 
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