Every year, IBM takes a stab at telling the future by examining what they’re working on in their 5in5 series. This year’s list was surprisingly bland compared to past ones as they explored technologies that many would agree aren’t necessarily 5 years away; in two cases, we should see these technologies enter our daily lives within 1 or 2 years. It’s not an insult of what they’re trying to do – they’re the scientists and we’re just bloggers. It’s just that their predictions are a bit conservative.

Energy

Applying kinetic energy solutions to our lives is something that makes complete sense other than the cost associated with changing the current infrastructure. It’s a shame that we have so much water flowing throughout the world through pipes, for example, and we aren’t using this constant motion as an energy source.

Security

Using biometrics is happening as we speak. It won’t take 5 years before we start to see “smart ATMs,” for example.

Mind Reading

IBM scientists are currently working on technology that allows us to connect directly to our devices. “Within 5 years, we’ll be able to see early applications of this technology,” they said.

This particular vision is life-changing. It would help average people perform their daily activities more seamlessly and allow those with disabilities to perform tasks that are currently challenging. We can’t wait for this one to be a reality.

Mobile

In 5 years, 80% of the global population will have a mobile device, according to IBM. It’s a stretch considering that third-world countries are still facing challenges getting fresh water, let alone iPhones, but they’re the scientists.

Analytics

This is another concept that we should see well before the 5-year mark they’re describing. Even Facebook is trying to accomplish this with their innovations in social networking. Smarter people than us have said that spam is almost gone and they were wrong, but it appears that we’re closer than 5 years away from seeing this come true.

Here’s the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuisda1q6ns#!