Oh also battery/chargers that can charge a phone or whatever to 100% in 1minute! (actually seen this on the news-they found some break through but atm it doesn't charge fully in that time but roughly half way there):0  

Posted by Draenin

My first guess would be advanced robotics, considering the fact that Google now has their own robotics division and China is looking to replace a lot of workers with relatively inexpensive robots as well.

Plus 3D printing parts for them would probably make the whole process a lot cheaper too, and drive down the costs of putting more together.

That isn't to say that they'll be any closer to sentience, though, because there's still a huge amount we don't know about how consciousness works in human beings.
Oh man, that's actually a really good one. We're already up to 4K, but I haven't even seen anything in that format yet. I suspect we'll be a lot closer once 4K costs go down for consumers, though.

Is RPX a 4K format? We don't really have a lot of IMAX theatres around where I live, unfortunately. :[

I have a 4k TV ;0  

Good thread.

I think my lifetime (if I live to be old) will hold in store a much better solution to cancer. Being able to zap it at the source instead of poisoning the entire body.

I think weapons are going to get much scarier. I forsee very powerful lazers being used at long distance warfare. We already have systems that are designed to shoot down missiles.

Space reconnaissance, and probably many more ways for government(s) to spy on us.

Virtual reality will become huge as Ryan said. Games such as IMVU and Second Life will become more creepy and realistic as they already are. Huge numbers of people living their own life by playing games.

I think we might figure out very effective ways to reverse aging. I think people make it seem like its more impossible than it really is. Science can probably keep healthy life going on for a much longer time than nature does.  

Let's not forget NASA's accidental discovery of warp fields that happened just recently!!  

Artificial muscle tissue, breakthroughs in things like magnetic confinement fusion and torus field generators, gyroscopic engines, advanced and more efficient exosuits, closer to an iron man suit rather than a couple of sticks on hydraulics.  

Posted by Colin

Let's not forget NASA's accidental discovery of warp fields that happened just recently!!

I am still very skeptical of that. NASA's actual website and facebook page has been much more up to date lately, and they still say at this point it's still imaginary.  

Smart contacts would be sweet.  

Actually this would be kinda scary... We can already detect brain activity with modern tech, so in the future it may be possible for this to progress to mind reading technology, and even at some point mind control. 0_0 Hopefully such technology would be used ethically and safely... It would be cool only then. I mean, if somehow we could put ourselves into a forced state of lucid dreaming structured by a computer, we could have things like Sword Art Online in real life!  

Someone will create a Pokemon in a test tube.  

Nano Technology, huge artificial intelligence advancements, self driving cars, gene editing, and huge 3D printing advancements. Imagine 3D printing entire neighborhoods for cheap one day. Also this one might be more controversial but combating aging. Scientists have already found ways to increase chromosome telomere lengths, one of the main causes of aging. Expect more advancements to increase life expectancy by a large margin in the next 50 years. I wouldn't be surprised if by 2050 the average life expectancy in developed countries was 100.

Artificial intelligence advancements is where it could possibly get scary. I'm not saying its going to get all terminator-like, but job automation is a real thing. Robots/computer programs could automate the majority of entry level jobs one day to the point where only a small quantity of highly skilled jobs are available, leaving a large portion of the population unemployed.  

Posted by Pimpsy G.

Nano Technology, huge artificial intelligence advancements, self driving cars, gene editing, and huge 3D printing advancements. Imagine 3D printing entire neighborhoods for cheap one day.

Hadn't even thought of that. As someone who wants to get into a field that heavily relies on 3D printing particularly for prototyping concepts I look forward to the advancements i will see and hopefully experience in my lifetime!  

I really want to see computer-human brain hybrids.

Humans brains having the same accuracy, precision, consistency, speed, etc. as a computer. like being able to calculate trajectories and stuff instantly.

Computers being able to work more similarly to how the human brain works. such as improved logic, the computer knows exactly what you mean, knows exactly what you want to do. Basically "artificial intelligence" becoming closer to true intelligence.

the latter is probably more possible/likely than the former.  

yea this thread is no longer about the next big thing  

Anything created by Tesla or Google.  

I could honestly see home control systems being introduced in the near future, depending on how many appliance companies are willing to join in.

Stuff like turning your lights on before you get home, locking your doors from a remote access location, streaming home surveillance footage through web pages, etc.



And along those same lines, people who hack into those home control systems to cause mayhem.