In 5 years, computers will have all five senses and will perceive the world around us like people do, IBM anticipates in a series of projections on the future of IT industry, according to CNN Money. Thus, soon, a user who wants to buy clothing online can feel the fabric just by touching the screen.
Computer sensors are rapidly approaching the level of complexity required to interpret the characteristics of an object by touch. Also, IBM believes that in 5 years a smartphone can mimic by vibration characteristics of a surface: user touches the screen, but will feel that material, for example a dress displayed on the screen.
“We’re not talking about fuzzy screens. You’re not going to have to dry clean your Samsung.”
said Bernie Meyerson, IBM’s vice president of innovation.
IBM researchers are already working on applications for use in retail or health care using touch technologies, IR sensors or pressure points.
Regarding the “sight”, today’s computers are already the perfect tools to capture and display the images and visual recognition capabilities have evolved significantly in recent years. However, the devices still do not understand too well “what they are looking at”, requiring user intervention.
IBM predicts that in five years computers will be able to interpret images better than people, analyzing colors, textures, and other features to gather information. In the medical field, the computer will “see” more details and information than doctors in MRI or X-Ray tests. For example, a computer will be able to quickly differentiate diseased tissue from the healthy in an MRI test, believe engineers at IBM .
Computers will also acquire hearing, able to interpret the sounds that the human ear does not hear or can not understand. For example, IBM believes that in 2018 a smartphone will be able to accurately interpret the sounds of a newborn.
Evolution of technology in this area has vast applications: computers will detect when a tree is about to fall, when a landslide will take place or when a car accident will occur. Taste and smell, senses now hard to imagine for a computer, are also within short distance from reality.
Computers will help people prepare the perfect recipe through virtual breakdown of food at the molecular level to determine, through complex calculations, what combinations of flavors will appeal to the “master”. Based on this information, the smartphone will be able to create perfect recipes, IBM believing that such people will eat better – the healthy food with better taste will be more attractive.
The chemical industry is already using microchips that can detect indoor air contamination by decomposition at the molecular level. IBM researchers are currently trying to adapt this technology to analyze the chemical structure of food.
The smell also comes in the IT space. “Do you think you are about to catch a cold? In 5 years, you can breathe toward the smartphone to learn”, IBM predicts. Sensors will be able analyze breath odors to identify signs of diseases, from bacterial infections, liver and kidney problems to asthma, diabetes or epilepsy.
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