Photo: Using your eye for identification Technology is
constantly narrowing the gap between science fiction and
reality, bringing fundamental changes into our lives. According
to IBM researchers, in five years we won’t need passwords, won’t
be bothered by junk mail and will be able to control many of our
machines with our minds. The American technology company
released its 6th annual Five-in-Five, a list of five innovations
the firm expects to see within five years. One of them will
enable us to generate small amounts of energy to supplement the
electric power we use in our homes. “You can do micro-electronic
generation,” says Bernie Meyerson, vice president of Innovation
at IBM. “For instance, you can have somebody in the third world
who has access to a phone or a smart phone, but doesn’t have
access to a power grid, which is a very common thing and
literally in a shoe has something that recovers energy from
walking and can charge the battery to enable that person to
actually become connected with the rest o