IT and Society: IBM predicts five IT innovations to appear by 2015

IBM Corp. has released an annual report called “IBM Next Five in Five” which features five innovative technologies and developments that have the potential to appear within future five years.

Report’s authors forecast the appearance of better batteries by 2015. IBM thinks we may see smaller batteries that last 10 times longer than today’s.

This innovation is followed by 3D holograms. 3D holograms will infect phones, TVs, and all sorts of screens, making 3D something consumers actually want. No glasses needed.

IBM hopes to harness the energy produced by massive farms of computer servers and use it to heat and cool other buildings. A case in point is 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.

Authors of the report believe that navigation services will rapidly develop within five years. 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.

At last, IBM believes that by 2015 sensors in smart phones, 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.